Jonesing for the stuff

 

Are you dying to get your shot?

Seems to be all the rage. Everyone on every network is talking about getting a shot instead of getting shot.

This promised miracle cure would get us back to a time when tossing paper towels to hurricane victims were funny. A time before violence and looting and crossing a border wasn’t the discussion of ‘friends’ and puppies and selfies were the norm.

Just like all the other potions we put in our body to ease our pain, put us to sleep or keep the ‘little general’ up all night, we go to the pharmacy.

Back in the day, when you had a headache, you went to the shelf at the drug store and picked up a bottle of Bayer Aspirin. Why? It was the only solution available. Their advertising was all over the good housekeeping magazines so by the time you put that little white pill of chalk in your mouth you were convinced it would work.

Pharmaceutical giants ‘Pfizer’ and ‘Moderna’ and now ‘Johnson & Johnson’ have some sort of concoction to suck up in a needle and shoot into your arm.

If you look on your orange vials of morning necessities taken before, during or after meals the names are as foreign as ancient Greek mythology. Now ‘Johnson & Johnson’ is a familiar name for their baby powder and band-aids, but the chemistry labs like ‘Pfizer’ sounds like some foreboding experiment (which it is) to blend eye-of-newt and wing-of-bat into a magic potion that can combat something so small you can’t see but easy enough to breath into your lungs and cause some major havoc.

Our health is one of our top priorities along with having sex, belching and complaining, so when the announcement is made that ‘the fear of death’ can be fixed with a shot (or two), we all come running.

Who is the first in line?

Put the most vulnerable up front. If they get ‘it’ they will most surely kick the bucket. History shows if you’ve lasted this long; you probably have a pretty good immune system. Why waste a shot of immortality on someone who will be gone soon anyway?

Essential workers are definitely up top for a shot. Who is essential? Nurses and doctors who are close to the infected are certainly essential. The EMS folks who bring them to the hospitals are most positively essential. The police and fire folk are most essential for even if the virus doesn’t get close we need them to round up the bad guys and put out the fires. The truck drivers, who deliver not only the ‘cure’ but also our substances to survive while we are quarantined, are essential. The folks who pump the gas and fix the engines to keep the trucks rolling are essential. The men and women who prepare the food delivered to feed the doctors and nurses and EMC and police and fire and truck drives are essential. Then there are those behind the scene people who clean up after us. When do they get a shot?

While you wait, what can happen?

Suppose you ‘get it’ but then you think it goes away, but it doesn’t.

Crippling fatigue, headaches and chest pain, blood clots, memory problems, racing heartbeat and shortness of breath, hair loss, leg weakness and even in some cases temporary paralysis are just a few of the mysterious, lingering symptoms experienced by COVID-19 survivors. These might also be symptoms of dozens of other ailments known or unknown at the present time, but we are talking about our immediate pandemic.

So you finally get ‘THE SHOT’ and relax knowing you are going to survive until the next epidemic comes.

What if, you start getting shortness of breath or a persistent cough?

Did the shot work? Did the second booster get there in time? Were there enough testing? Maybe you need another dose? Maybe you got the mutation version of the virus and the shot didn’t work?

So the folks in the white lab coats have confirmed a vaccine that is advertised as being effective against ‘the purge’ and tell the laboratories to start cranking out the juice because everyone wants it.

Now these pill factories, just like the automobile assembly lines, have constructed facilities, hired qualified people and set goals for the ‘normal’ request for its product on the basis of ‘supply and demand’.

All of a sudden the demand has outstretched the ability to supply. Money is no object for the federal government is flipping the bill and they print the dollars, but are there enough people and places to produce the massive amounts now requested? The assembly line might go faster but will the quality of the product be maintained?

Who is that in the alley?

“Psst, hey buddy? Are you looking for some comfort? I got a needle right here with your name on it.”

Just like the ‘War on Poverty’, ‘War on Terror’ and the ‘War on Drugs’, there will always be an entrepreneur to come out of the woodwork and improvise a solution for those in need.

Ever hang with a junkie?

Oh, it doesn’t have to be the hard stuff; it could just be the daily binge. When the supply starts getting low, they start jonsing for the stuff.

Some people I’ve heard have already gotten the ‘shot’. Some have gotten the ‘shot’ and the ‘booster’. I don’t know if they looked at the label to see if it came from the same manufacturer or what the ingredients were because we depend on the medical professionals (those folks in white lab coats) to give us the right dose.

I’ve read about all the optional ‘shooting centers’ being set up for the masses. Just like voting, large areas are being cleared so lines of people can roll up their sleeves and get a shot. The best option I’ve heard is a racetrack. Not sure how fast you have to drive around to get the shot, but it would make it an interesting experience to tell the kids.

Speaking of kids, shouldn’t they come first? The next generation seems somewhat immune to this virus, but they are still carriers. Haven’t we been bad enough to the little ones to keep them out of school and away from their friends? They will read about times when there were proms and football games and necking under the bleachers but they are just old memories of another time.

If you are sitting home and investing on things other than ‘GameStop’ you might consider blue rubber gloves. They seem the rage ever since HIV times. A touch that used to be kinky is now normal. Of course the face diapers are the new fashion trend and now there is talk of layering them. Check your portfolio. Now the plastic garb and booties and hairnets might be extreme for today, but tomorrow?

Needles! Everyone needs needles to inject the good stuff in your arm to go throughout your body and make you invulnerable. Haven’t seen any ads online and I’ve thrown away all of mine long ago, but someone out there is making this simple tool to transfer chemistry to bodily health.

The reactions from getting your ‘shot’ have been across the board, but what if you like it? If you hear there is a third ‘shot’ do you want one of them too? Since the distributions and application of shooting up seems in disarray, why not get a ‘shot’ in each arm and one in your butt to save time.  

I’ve not read about how (or who) is keeping records of who gets the ‘shot’ and when they get the ‘shot’ and when they get the ‘booster’. I’m sure some data-mine is accumulating all the numbers and factoids for PowerPoint presentations. News @ eleven.

If you feel invulnerable after getting your shots, then lower your mask and get back to spitting in each other’s faces.

Trust

 

“Did you hear about this?” the message read.

 

The person who sent it to you must have thought it was viable to you for reading purposes.

It may have been something you’d seen before or maybe a surprise.

How will react in this day-and-time?

Will you read it?

 

Will you due diligence on understanding the subject of the message?

What are the implications of someone else’s opinion or statement that warranted it to be forwarded to you?

What does that tell you about the sender?

 

Should we doubt everything we read and hear?

Are we now delusional enough to believe every word printed?

How do we rationalize our thoughts to maintain our own personality and beliefs?

How do we keep from falling?

 

Trust is defined as:

1. Firm belief in the character, strength, or truth of someone or something.

2. A person or thing in which confidence is placed.

3. Confident hope in trust of their return.

4. A property interest held by one person or organization (as a bank) for the benefit of another.

 

You trust your parents?

You trust your siblings?

You trust your friends?

You trust your preacher?

You trust your spouse?

You trust your friend with your wife?

You lend your friend some money and trust it will be returned?

You trust your bank statement?

You trust the food you eat has been inspected?

You trust yourself?

 

You trust what you read or hear coming from an established media is real? You trust some unknown site repeating a questionable statement until there is doubt of the truth?

 

If you fall, who will catch you?

 

Do you trust yourself?

Conscientious Objector

 

A ‘conscientious objector’ is a person who for reasons of conscience objects to complying with a particular requirement, especially serving in the armed forces.

 

Throughout U.S. history, ‘conscientious objectors’ have been penalized for their position. They often had to pay a fee in exchange for exemption from military service. When World War I broke out, the government restricted the rules for conscientious objectors, which led to the imprisonment of hundreds of Americans.

 

A person must be a pacifist to be a ‘conscientious objector’. You do not have to be opposed to personal self-defense (i.e. someone attacking you or your loved one) or to police force, or be a vegetarian to qualify as a ‘conscientious objector’.

 

These ‘conscientious objectors’ claimed exemption on grounds of their pacifist, political or religious beliefs. ‘Conscientious objectors’ became the targets of abuse. They were made to feel guilty for not supporting their country.

 

Other religious groups, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, although not strictly pacifist, also refused to participate. Governing authorities have dealt with ‘conscientious objectors’ disparately, with some receiving exemptions and others being fined or imprisoned.

 

In fact, a soldier has a legal duty to refuse to carry out an order that breaches the provisions of international statutes that deals with the conduct of war such as the Geneva conventions or the conventions of The Hague.

 

You can never aim at civilians, the law says. But it is not against the rules to kill civilians “collaterally,” so long as doing so is not out of proportion to the concrete and direct military aim, and so long as you take precautions to avoid or minimize harm.

 

A ‘conscientious objector’ is an “individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service” on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion.

 

In some countries, ‘conscientious objectors’ are assigned to an alternative civilian service as a substitute for conscription or military service. 

 

Some ‘conscientious objectors’ consider themselves as pacifists, non-interventionist, non-resistant, non-aggression, anti-imperialist, anti-militarist or philosophically stateless (not believing in the notion of state).

 

On March 8, 1995, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/83 stated, “persons performing military service should not be excluded from the right to have conscientious objections to military service”. This was re-affirmed in 1998, when resolution 1998/77 recognized that “persons [already] performing military service may develop conscientious objections”.

 

A number of organizations around the world celebrate the principle on May 15 as International ‘Conscientious Objection’ Day. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military-industrial complex due to a crisis of conscience.

 

To object is to put forth in opposition or as an objection objected that the statement was misleading, to oppose something firmly and usually with words or arguments.

 

Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual’s moral philosophy or value system. Conscience stands in contrast to elicited emotion or thought due to associations based on immediate sensory perceptions and reflexive responses, as in sympathetic central nervous system responses. In common terms, conscience is often described as leading to feelings of remorse when a person commits an act that conflicts with their moral values. An individual’s moral values and their dissonance with familial, social, cultural and historical interpretations of moral philosophy are considered in the examination of cultural relativity in both the practice and study of psychology. The extent to which conscience informs moral judgment before an action and whether such moral judgments are or should be based on reason has occasioned debate through much of modern history between theories of modern in juxtaposition to the theories of romanticism and other reactionary movements after the end of the Middle Ages.

 

Religious views of conscience usually see it as linked to a morality inherent in all humans, to a beneficent universe and/or to divinity. The diverse ritualistic, mythical, doctrinal, legal, institutional and material features of religion may not necessarily cohere with experiential, emotive, spiritual or contemplative considerations about the origin and operation of conscience. Common secular or scientific views regard the capacity for conscience as probably genetically determined, with its subject probably learned or imprinted as part of a culture.

 

Conscience is increasingly conceived of as applying to the world as a whole, has motivated numerous notable acts for the public good and been the subject of many prominent examples of literature, music and film.

 

Freedom, generally, is having the ability to act or change without constraint. Something is “free” if it can change easily and is not constrained in its present state. In philosophy and religion, it is associated with having free will and being without undue or unjust constraints, or enslavement, and is an idea closely related to the concept of liberty. A person has the freedom to do things that will not, in theory or in practice, be prevented by other forces. Outside of the human realm, freedom generally does not have this political or psychological dimension. In physics or engineering, the mathematical concept may also be applied to a body or system constrained by a set of equations, whose degrees of freedom describe the number of independent motions that are allowed to it.

 

With that said, why don’t you wear your mask?

 

Is it so much to ask to wrap a diaper on your face? Doctors have been doing it for years so their snot won’t drip into your open-heart surgery.

 

 Yet some people just don’t want to wear one. Will covering half your face ruin your appearance? Will not being able to show off your latest choice in lip-gloss destroy your romantic relationship? You can’t get within 6 feet of the other person anyway so they’ll be no lip smacking.

 

Or are you just opposing the ‘request’ to wear a facemask to protect yourself and others from spreading this germ around that is killing people?

 

When I was a kid I ‘consciously objected’ to washing the dishes. I washed the dishes and went to bed with a tanned bottom.

 

Having some knowledge of right and wrong, I was a ‘conscientious objector’ to stealing cars, breaking and entering and possibility a few more actions my friends wanted to do.

 

The war that was closest to me was Vietnam. I never got the request from the government to come join the fight. I had read enough and seen enough and heard enough to understand why ‘we’ were there and I wanted no part of it. Some I knew became members of the fray, willingly or unwillingly. Some came home. Some did not. Some people I knew spent time convincing the government that they were ‘conscientious objector’.

 

What else do we ‘object’ too?

 

Speeding tickets, waiting in line, overcooked chicken, faux couture, potholes, smelly people, financial inequality, discrimination, infidelity, opioid abuse, prison overcrowding, racial injustice, sexism, misogyny, housing, family planning, religion, movies, television, your neighbors’…. the list goes on and on.

 

What are you going to do about it?

 

Do you object…. I mean ‘conscientious object’ to animal abuse, plastic pollution, global warming? What is parked in the driveway?

 

Maybe Patrick Henry was the best ‘conscientious objector’?

“Give me liberty or give me death”

The Bathroom

Supposedly the cleanest room in the house (and most private) is where we should be spending all our time during the lockdown. Can’t get no cooties in a sanitized porcelain room, right?

The bathroom is one of the most popular rooms in the house. Everyone uses it. It has everything you need. Running water, a comfy chair and plenty of reading material available.

The bathroom also has the best acoustics in the house.

No matter where you go, there is a bathroom. The office building, the stadium, the gym, the restaurant and the church all have bathrooms. All your friends have bathrooms and when you are over for a cookout…

We need all these bathrooms. Other than breathing and eating, we done got to go.

When your dog stops and squats, as a responsible person you carry a plastic bag and scoop the pooch poop. This is the acceptable way for them to use the bathroom. Bats, squirrels, cats, rats, spiders, birds, cows can go anywhere at anytime and no one has to pick up the poo. Instead Mother Nature waters it down and turns it into fertilizer.

Instead of doing our business on the side of the road like your dog (though sometimes needed if there is no attainable porta-potty) we created the bathroom. We didn’t want to carry trash bags around to properly remove our dump.

At home we use the loo one at a time, but when we go to out, we share the experience with others.

There was a time when there were only landline telephones. If someone had automotive problems, they would walk up to the nearest house and ask if they could borrow the phone. It was common courtesy.

What would you do if you get a knock on the door with someone asking to borrow your bathroom?

 This person is asking to do what your mother does, your kids do, and your friends do in your bathroom. They are not asking to take the towels home or offering to scrub the bowl. They are in need to eliminate last night’s dinner and got nowhere to go. If defecation is suppressed over long periods, problems can occur, such as constipation or stool impaction.

Are we concerned about the hygiene of a stranger to do the same thing in your house as they do in the office washroom? Are we worried they will use up all the t-paper? Are you fearful they will leave an aroma worse than Uncle Billy? Should we put a pay-lock on the stall?

Do you have any other items you are wary of loaning?

Would you let your brother borrow your lawnmower? Would you let your neighbor borrow your lawnmower? Would you lend your car? Would you lend your gun? Would you lend your wife?

If ‘your’ bathroom can be borrowed and used by strangers; what about lending your bed? What about your kitchen?

Whether it is your house or a rental, someone chose the latrine and sink and had them installed in an out-of-the-way spot. Someone chose the color, the facets, the placement and whoever lives here, the bathroom is an indication of who you are by your bathroom.

For all the visitors, you keep your most personal items behind a mirror door or in a drawer or on a shelf in full view. Any bathroom participant can come away knowing how you smell, what your dental hygiene habits are and what brand of tampon you purchase.

Be sure to check your homeowner’s insurance policy.

Toilet-related deaths are attributed to the drop in blood pressure due to the parasympathetic nervous system during bowel movements.

Don’t wind up like Elvis or Lenny Bruce.

Leader

After all the political shenanigans and snafus, I wonder what is a “Leader”?

Leadership is both a research area and a practical skill encompassing the ability of an individual, group or organization to “lead”, influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations.

U.S. academic environments define leadership as “a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. 

Others have challenged the more traditional managerial view of leadership which believes that it is something possessed or owned by one individual due to their role or authority, and instead advocate the complex nature of leadership which is found at all levels of the institution, both within formal and informal roles.

Studies of leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence.

The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country is the leader.

The leader may go by many titles: chief, head, principal, boss, commander, captain, figurehead, controller, superior, kingpin, headman, mover and shaker, chairman, chairwoman, chairperson, chair, convener, moderator, director, managing director, manager, superintendent, supervisor, overseer, administrator, employer, master, mistress, foreman, president, premier, governor, ruler, monarch, king, queen, sovereign, emperor, tsar, prince, princess, lord, lord and master, elder, patriarch, guru, mentor, authority, boss man, skipper, top dog, number one, big cheese, big noise, bigwig, big shot, gaffer, guv’nor, honcho, Mister Big, numero uno, sachem, padrone or president.

The military probably do it better than anyone else. Like many corporations, there are ‘titles’ for responsibilities and position in the organization chart. The ‘Leader’ is the one with more jewelry than anyone else. The ‘Leader’ demands respect with a salute, stand at attention, and respond with a “Yes Sir” or “Yes Ma’am”. The ‘Leader’ in the military does not make request. They give orders.

A ‘Leader’ might be the most skilled or knowledgeable so others with less know how will follow directions. A ‘Leader’ may be a hand-me-down from family ancestry. A ‘Leader’ may be the most attractive, richest or snappiest dresser, but those qualities don’t last long.

Most deal with a ‘shop steward’ or ‘office manager’ or supervisor who gets request from up the chain of command to pass onto you and to follow your achievement of a task. Some of these ‘Leaders’ are working their way up the corporate ladder while others have reached their level of incompetence.

I was watching some old civil war movies (seems timely?) and noticed the ‘Leaders’. There are the generals who are behind the lines, strategizing with arrows on maps and riders coming back and forth with information of how the battles were going. They would sit on horses and watch a poof of smoke and hear the roar but have to wait for the body count to see if they won or lost.

Then there were the ‘Leaders’ who received the orders and followed them. These ‘Leaders’ actually lead men into battle. Their assignment was to get young men to run toward other young men shooting at them. They would carry a sword held high, run in front of everyone else yelling, “Come on boys, follow me!”

I’ve had different titles and responsibilities to supervise other people. I mentored some, instructed others and disciplined a few who bucked my position. I hired some, documented the positive and negative employment, recommended raises and escorted some out the door. I never thought of any position or title as ‘Leader’. I never had to have the dedication or respect of people to follow me to their death.

A good ‘Leader’ does more than spreadsheets and PowerPoint charts. The ‘Leader’ makes a decision on the best information at the time. The good ‘Leader’ takes responsibility for the outcome, for better or worse.

Our country has new ‘Leadership’. Let us hope he & she can pull us out of this mess.

Are you ready to follow?

Where do you live?

 

President Biden has asked Congress to set aside $30 billion to help the more than 10 million households who were behind on rent last month by passing his ‘$1.9 trillion stimulus package’. That bill, if passed, would extend the eviction moratorium through September 2021.

Over 107 million people -- or about one-third of the US population -- live in rental households, most of which have been protected by some form of an eviction moratorium since Congress passed the initial ‘CARES Act’ back in March.

The current order, which Congress extended in December, had been set to expire Jan. 31.

It established a $25 billion rent relief fund but imposed income limits in order to qualify, with priority going to the lowest-earning households as well as those in which someone is currently unemployed.

Adding to the difficulty, some local jurisdictions have continued with evictions despite the nationwide ban.

A January report by the ‘Jobs with Justice Education Fund’ traces $320 million in federal pandemic assistance to 197 corporate landlords who collectively filed 5,381 evictions between March and October.

The current eviction ban requires renters who’ve fallen behind on their rent to submit a signed declaration form to their landlord stating they’ve lost income due to the corona virus pandemic and have made an effort to look for financial assistance, as well as a few other conditions.

Got it?

After food, shelter is our most important need. We all need a place to get out of the rain and cold. We need a place to sleep and keep our stuff.

It maybe called ‘home’ or ‘apartment’ or ‘room’.

Shelter may require a mortgage payment or rent due. Unless owned, you have to pay someone else to live there.

And when you can’t…?

You’ve seen them. ‘The Homeless’ is what they are called, because, well they have no place to call ‘home’. There is no address to get their mail. There is no phone to call to remind them to pay their taxes. There is no driveway to park the car or shelves to hold their books or kitchens to cook their food. There is no bed.

You’ve seen ‘them’ next to the railroad tracks. You’ve seen ‘them’ under bridges. You’ve seen ‘them’ pushing grocery carts full of their belongings. You’ve seen ‘them’ sitting on milk crates at intersections with cardboard signs begging for money.

Without a job there is no income. Without income there is no money for rent (or food). Without rent, comes eviction.

With more people losing their jobs due to the pandemic, additional training unavailable or unaffordable the federal government is trying to take tax dollars to assist the NGOs and faith-base organizations trying to keep them afloat. The lucky ones find a space for a tent city.

If this trend continues, where will all the tent cities go?

The US of the A is a large country with lots of land.

 

There are miles of sand along our coastlines that could house a tent city. Unlike a tourist site only used for three months a year, the beach could become permanent housing like our colonizing relatives. The revolving water could wash bodies and clothing but not too good to drink. It could be used to relieve oneself, but it just flows back. The ocean is the biggest supermarket if you like fish. They got surfing too!

 

The theme parks seem to be closed due to the virus. There is plenty of room for tents and what better place to stay than on Space Mountain or in the Magic Kingdom? There are all kinds of food stands and bathrooms. Who wouldn’t want to have an address of Disneyland?

 

Kids need some space to run around so why not those vast swashes of grass called golf courses. There is lots of space and very little use. There are sandboxes for the little ones and water hazards for cleansing. Though no facilities, the fairways are lined with woods.

 

As seen on shows like “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” these mansions purchased by our idols have massive manicured lawns. They have enough space to share. It might even be a tax write-off? There are swimming pools, lawn chairs, and decks with great views. Better than living under a highway overpass.

These are but a few choices. There are campgrounds, cruise ships, abandoned warships in mothball, abandoned office high rises and closed dance floors.

Get ready for some new neighbors. They may need to use your address for their mail.

Pictures on the radio

 

“Pictures on the radio” I heard this phrase on the radio today. A new book of David’s Gilkey photographs, titled Pictures on the Radio, memorializes both his work, and David himself, through memory-filled essays from several of his former NPR colleagues, closing with an afterword by his mother Alyda Gilkey.

I listen to the radio. I listen all day. I don’t watch television. Why?

Radio, to me, is like a conversation. When you meet someone, if they have something interesting to say or informative or entertaining, then you keep listening. You may learn something or get a laugh or a feeling from someone you’ve never seen. It is only their voice. There is none of the flash bang of television and is not broken up by commercials. Just the pitch and pace of words spoken through a little speaker to me and me alone is how I listen.

I listen exclusively to NPR. Yes, I donate. I don’t change channels. Every radio in every room is turned to NPR. I find it the most rewarding for intelligent opinions and discussions, updates on news and marketing information without entertainment and they are the only ones with classical music.

I do use the Internet for images and videos, local news and weather. I check several news sites for different points of views, but rely on NPR for ‘the truth’.

My point is someone somewhere else talking into a microphone is reading something that a journalist has investigated and editors have arranged for this voice to tell me what is the news of the world. How this unknown face speaks describes enough information for my imagination and interpretation to visualize in my mind.

Reading a book is similar. The authors writes the words to pull the reader into mystical worlds, travel through the ages to places never seen without pictures. The author hopes the reader can understand the thoughts and feelings without having to reference previous chapters or stop reading to check the encyclopedia.

The difference with radio is someone is reading it to me.

In some cases the reading is fast and disjointed in the excitement of the moment or jammed by a time deadline. Other times are soothing voices that can pace the mood.

Before the pandemic our species enjoyed gathering and having conversations. Sometimes they were debates and other times just the joy of hearing another voice.

So in our sequestered days, to hear someone else’s voice comes through a speaker or headphones. Unfortunately it is a one-way conversation for no matter what you say back, they can’t hear you.

This is also a good time to practice how we talk, what we say, when to speak and when to listen.

Imagine if you will, describing the Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “Mona Lisa” to someone who is blind? Can you describe color and hue and shades of light? Can you relate the style and technique by a historical reference or other pieces of artwork? How can you describe the smile?

In this time a tsunami of images, words, opinions and stories can become more distracting than informative. I’ve tried to trim the flow of unnecessary or repetitive messages that cuts down the distraction and allows an intellectual focus. At the same time, I try to listen to what others say.

Being in isolations allows the words, thoughts, ideas, and theories to be diagnosis, deciphered and digested rather than the constant noise and chatter known as ‘normal’ before. This time also allows moments of silence to appreciate where and who you are.

There are lots of words used to describe objects, relay messages, preach opinions and teach. If the passage of ideas not blocked by bias or judgment, maybe learning experience.

Take the time to listen.

We’ve come for your guns

 

All I have to relate to the old west are history books and television because I wasn’t alive back then. The history books sort of point to people wondering what to do after the civil war, so head west. Mostly wrote about cowboys and Indians, extending the railroad and the gold rush. 

It was television that captured our imagination of outlaws rustling cattle and robbing banks and the lone sheriff protecting the town folk with a determination and a fast draw.

In this time of crazy, I think back to the ole west I remember from black and white television. Everyone carried a gun then.

As folks from out of town ride up and down the streets of my town spouting off about being about to walk around with their penis replacement and playing pretend army, I wonder ‘who’ is after your guns?

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

You want bare arms? Go to the beach.

I must live in ‘Wonderland’ for until these folks arrived no one was driving up and down the streets with guns. The James’ Gang ain’t rode in and robbed no banks.

Sure there are shoot-outs on the streets because everyone has a gun. When the smoke clears the black and whites tape off the area and tries to figure out who shot whom for what reason. The body count competes with the car wrecks, overeating and this pesky virus thing.

Knock, Knock! See who’s at the door. Oh, they’ve come to take away your guns.

Now the cowboy’s maybe sort’a needed to carry iron because they were riding around in the wilderness with wild cyotes and injuns libel to attack your person. If a cowboy had done come up to some others on horses, total strangers, they didn’t start shooting lead. Everyone was packing but since everyone looked like each other, there was no threat.

If you were to wander into a township, the barkeep would ask you to put your gun up on the wall for they knew some controversial card playing fueled by rock gut could come to no good conclusion. Still the town folk wee pretty peaceful. They had a general store, a church and a school plus a slammer to dump the bad actors in.

So the question is: “Why would anyone come for your guns?”

Who knows you have any guns? Who knows how many you have? Do you parade them out on the porch as a sign of virility? I thought that is what your kids were about. Do you carry them around for intimidation?

As long as you only shoot off your mouth (which is also a freedom) no one cares. I used to ride by a house that had a cannon in the front yard.

So if this riding up and down the streets waving your flags and beeping your horns makes a point for the legislature, fine. By purchasing our gas and staying at our hotels and eating our food, you are also paying our taxes.

Now let’s get back to teaching our children, growing our food and finding a cure for stupidity.

Investigation

 

Something went wrong or doesn’t work or perhaps should be done. Let us investigate.

What does that mean?

Investigate is to carry out a systematic or formal inquiry to discover and examine the facts of (an incident, allegation, etc.) so as to establish the truth.

People who are official because they wear uniforms and carry badges rope off the area and with flashlights and dogs start looking for clues. Any blade of grass or smudge might solve the question so they are carefully sealed in plastic bags and sent to a laboratory where more professionals in white coats meticulously check every detail for evidence.

Then some other person assigned to this investigation logs in the data of time and place and relevance to the occurrence with charts and graphs and numbers on a spreadsheet.

Not through yet.

All these findings are nicely packed and sent to lawyers. The legal beagles have to try and decipher all the findings and decide if it is worthy of continuing the investigation or just shelf the file and move on.

Wait! There is more.

If investigator #1 gets sick, the investigator #2 has to pick up the search without any previous knowledge. If the numbers don’t match up, a supervisor becomes involved to evaluate and rearrange or discipline or send the file up the chain of command to the next level for further review.

If the situation is news worthy, reporters will start asking questions. They will search for other sources for details on this investigation.

Now if the incident turns into some larger than a missing cat, experts from agencies all over the world will be requested to examine the conclusions and give their synopsis.

Perhaps a committee should be formed for in-depth study of all variables. A commission to assess and redress all the matters from every point of view may need to be formed.

This investigation is good for our economy.

All these people need to be hired. They need to be assigned titles and given identification. They need assistances and equipment like laptops and secure phones and autos to go from place to place. They need room and board somewhere to sleep between meetings. There should also be a budget for meals for these folks.

If all this cost has not been previously set aside (and how could it because this is something new) then funds need to either be reassigned or accumulated from other means.

We (as a species) are always investigating who, what, where, when and why of our existence. Sometimes we think we find the answer. Sometimes the investigation never ends.

The One Liner

How are you introduced in a one-liner?

You walk up to another buddy and try to introduce the person you are with one sentence.

How do you do that?

“…is a friend of…” “…played with…” “…went to school at…”

A few words sums up who this person is.

The person has already concluded from the statue or the walk or the clothing that this person might be worthy of further investigation.

If not a sales call with a business card and a handshake, who is this person and why should you be interested?

“…was at the party at…” “…married to….” “…just got out of prison…”

If the person is standing close by, a slap on the back will assure the safety of the introduction. If the person is across the room the introduction may be different.

“Who is that?” they say.

From the casual “like you to meet…” could become more detailed into history.

“…she was…” “…what a dork, but…” “…was kicked out of his fraternity when…”

The one liner introduction fills an array of possibilities to where this relationship could go.

Take it one step further.

Walk through any graveyard and look at the headstones. They are introductions to people you never met. They give you a name and a time of birth and death.

Then there is a ‘one liner’ of who you were. 

Circle the wagons

 

Well here we are.

Scared of an unknown terror we have created barriers and fortifications to defend ourselves from the enemy.

Who is the enemy?

The governmental buildings are closed and boarded up. Fences and cement blocks surround the perimeter. Those who have been hired to defend our country are marching around with the latest weapons of destruction.

The citizens are huddled within the ring of wagons hoping the enemy will be kept out.

Who is the enemy?

 As we shelter trying to find a solution to an invisible invasion, we look to…

We’ve seen it all before. The wagon train that created the best shelter they had while crossing someone else’s yard. The breastworks of a city under siege will protect us from the inevitable.

We didn’t budget for any of this. We didn’t prepare if no one shows up.

Fear of the future is amazing. Unknown creates religion. Government was formed to organize what cannot be imagined.

Will we be breached and overrun and succumb or will we resist? The enemy.

Who is the enemy?

Dispensable

 

Are you able to be replaced or done without; superfluous, expendable, disposable, replaceable, inessential, unessential, nonessential, unnecessary, unneeded, needless, not required, redundant, superfluous, surplus to requirements, gratuitous or uncalled for?

Think about it?  How essential are you?

When you filled out your application for a job, you were replacing someone who had worked there before. When you leave, someone else will take your place.

Sure you may have had some good ideas that made you (or someone else) money and got acclaim and attention, but then comes the day when you are replaceable.

As you carry your trophies and plaques and awards home, someone else comes by to sit in your chair. That’s the way the world goes round.

A recognizable name maybe recorded in the history books or a statue constructed to memorize you. Hang a giant portrait on the wall but put a description of who the person is. The final legacy will be the gravestone.

So now there is this possible cure from something flying in the wind suffocating thousands all over the world and the powers-that-be are prioritizing who comes first.

Are you ready to get poked with some chemical that ‘might’ make you immune to this pandemic? What, you’ve got to get a second shot? How long will it take before you can take off your mask and hug someone else?

The desire to live is fundamental.

 Who makes the list? Who will be first to get the life saving shot in the arm? Draw a number for the lottery.

We’ve talked about ‘essential’ workers, so figure out where you are in line.

Those who are making the life or death decisions maybe swayed by money or prestige or threats, while the rest of us may wait to see if our life matters.

And now a break for a message from our sponsor…

Hold Your Breath

 

We’ve been here before. May 4, 1970. December 7, 1941. June 6, 1968. November 22, 1963. April 4, 1968. September 11, 2001. January 6, 2021.

Are we at the top of the roller coaster or just starting?

Everyday presents the unknown and that is the adventure of life.

But sometimes we can only anticipate what is around the next corner or thru that door, so we hold our breath.

We sit on the edge of our seats in horror files waiting for the terror to end.

We hold our breath waiting for the answer to “I love you”.

When we dive under water, we don’t have gills so we hold our breath. It is another fascinating world, but we have to come up for air.

In space, we have to carry a supply of air with us because we can’t hold our breath that long.

In tumultuous times, we can hear various theories, hypothesis, predictions and intuitions of what is coming; trying to make a rational decision while holding our breath.

 

Don’t drown.